Living in Hackensack, NJ
Bergen County
Hackensack is Bergen County's seat -- a real, genuine North Jersey identity anchored in county government and healthcare rather than the Jersey Shore's tourism economy or Central Jersey's pharma corridor built elsewhere in this state's manifest. Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian Health's flagship and one of New Jersey's largest hospitals, sits directly within city limits alongside substantial Bergen County administrative and judicial employment -- the Bergen County Justice Center and Superior Courthouse both sit in Hackensack, a real, dual economic anchor this record documents rather than flattening into a single-employer story. Hackensack's housing runs genuinely above the national median (Zillow's $473,422 average home value), consistent with Bergen County's broader NYC-commuter-suburb cost level, and its own median effective property-tax rate (2.88%, per Ownwell) runs meaningfully above even New Jersey's already nation-leading statewide average -- a real, disclosed cost this record does not soften. Hackensack's commute-to-Manhattan picture is genuinely strong but not a single-seat train ride: NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line serves three real in-city stations running to Hoboken Terminal (with PATH or ferry continuing into Manhattan), and a separate direct bus route reaches the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in roughly 38 minutes from the city's own NJ Transit bus terminal. Hackensack's crime picture carries a real, honestly disclosed tension: the city's own rate runs below the national average, yet the same source ranks it higher than most other New Jersey municipalities specifically -- both true, neither hidden here.
Explore Hackensack in depth
- Moving to Hackensack: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Hackensack
- Housing Market in Hackensack
- Buying a Home in Hackensack
- Renting in Hackensack
- Taxes in Hackensack
- Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Hackensack
- Climate & Weather in Hackensack
- Jobs & Economy in Hackensack
- Schools in Hackensack
- Crime & Safety in Hackensack
- Healthcare in Hackensack
- Traffic & Transportation in Hackensack
- Best Areas to Live in Hackensack
- Pros and Cons of Living in Hackensack
- Retiring in Hackensack
- Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Hackensack
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Learn moreHousing
Redfin's median sale price ran approximately $465,000 for the most recent month reviewed this pass.
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Bergen County level this session. New Jersey's top state income tax rate is 1.40%. See the New Jersey hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Hackensack-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
A real, substantial dual economic anchor in county government and healthcare (Hackensack University Medical Center, one of New Jersey's largest hospitals, plus Bergen County's own administrative and judicial employment); genuinely strong, if not single-seat, transit access to Manhattan via NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line and a direct George Washington Bridge bus route; a citywide crime rate that runs below the national average; a diversified local job market spanning healthcare, professional services, and retail; and Bergen County's broader reputation for strong schools and NYC-commuter-suburb amenities.
Cons
A real, disclosed effective property-tax rate (2.88% median) that runs above even Bergen County's own elevated average and well above New Jersey's already nation-leading statewide figure; genuinely above-national-median housing costs; no direct, single-seat commuter-rail line into Manhattan -- the real commute involves either a Pascack Valley Line connection through Hoboken or a direct bus to the George Washington Bridge; and a real, disclosed tension in the city's own crime data, which ranks worse relative to other New Jersey municipalities even as it beats the national average outright.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits movers prioritizing Bergen County's NYC-commuter-suburb access without needing a single-seat Manhattan train, healthcare or county-government-sector employees drawn to the city's own dual economic anchor, and urban-living-oriented households comfortable budgeting for a real, elevated Bergen County property-tax bill on top of New Jersey's statewide tax structure.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for commuters who specifically need a direct, single-seat rail line into Manhattan (Hackensack's own transit options route through Hoboken or a direct bus, not a one-seat train), or for anyone budgeting on New Jersey's statewide average property-tax figure alone -- Hackensack's own municipal-plus-school-district rate runs meaningfully above even that already-high statewide number.
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